Thursday, December 14, 2006

One Shot Wonders pt. 3

LAURIE ALLYN
The Mode record label was founded in 1957, within the period of a few months recorded and released a total of 29 albums by the instrumentalist likes of Richie Kamuca, Frank Rosolino, and Warne Marsh. And for our purposes here this afternoon: singers Joy Bryan, Don Nelson, the wonderful---make that GREAT--- Lucy Ann Polk, and Johnny Holiday. But the owner of the label had overextended himself financially, and just as quickly as Mode Records had opened for business, it had to close up shop. For Chicago singer Laurie Allyn, the failure of Mode had especially dire consequences, but with an ultimately happy ending which I’ll get to after we hear Laurie sing.

(All I Need is You)

The twelve tracks on Laurie Allyn’s LP, arranged by Marty Paich and featuring the likes of Al Viola, Red Mitchell and Pete Candoli, were recorded in Hollywood on October 2nd, 4th and 5th, 1957. But no sooner had the record’s producer---also the owner of Mode Records---finished recording the sessions than he had the sad duty of telling Allyn that he would not be able to release her recording because Mode was folding. Allyn went back home to Texas to tend her sick mother never to perform again. And this wonderful recording sat on the shelves until the current owner of the Mode catalogue decided to give it a first time issue. . .nearly fifty years after it was recorded. A perfect example of the U.S. Kotowaza (in English) “Better late than never” (then in Japanese).